


because i love you - a sad leo fic

by strawberryymilktea



Category: Heroes of Olympus - Fandom, percy jackson - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryymilktea/pseuds/strawberryymilktea
Summary: This takes place after Leo comes back from Ogygia. He is heartbroken, but at least he can rely on his friends right? He doesn't know anymore after he hears them talking about him behind his back. The only person he trusts himself to talk to now is Festus. Read to find out what the crew of the Argo II does when they find out what Leo has been through and  what he's doing to himself. (many plot twists)disclaimer- all rights reserved for rick riordan these are his characters. and also this is the first ff i've ever written pls don't judge too harshly
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER THIS UNIVERSE PLUS THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO UNCLE RICK RIORDAN.

Third person POV.  
  
Ever since Leo had left Ogygia, he had a melancholy feeling. When he first came back, everyone acted happy to see him, but he knew he was just another useless waste of space that they neither wanted or needed. He convinced himself that these thoughts were true, and he didn't want to admit this to himself but he had a tiny sliver of hope that they really did care. However, this hope was crushed when he left the engine room to go get some dinner. He was walking towards the door to the mess hall when he heard the voices of his friends. He didn't take much notice until he heard his name. He stopped in his tracks. What were they saying? "I hate how Leo just meets a random girl, then leaves after barely knowing her then cries, like he's so dramatic get over her. I bet she didn't even like him", he heard Frank say. He wasn't very shocked because well, it is Frank we're talking about we all know his l0vE towards Leo. Then he heard a couple other voices chiming in saying, "You're right Frank", "He is such a baby", and "He probably just wants attention". Leo gasped, the voices belong to Percy, Annabeth, an- his eyes popped out of their sockets- he couldn't believe it! JASON! Leo wanted to cry. His best friend just said, that he couldn't believe it. He was going to run down to his room when he heard more voices, Hazels soft voice said "He reminds me too much of Sammy its such a shame he turned out to be such an idiot." His eyes stung, but before his tears were released, he heard a voice, one that he thought he would never ever talk behind his back. piper. Now she was saying, "He's pretty much useless and no one even wants him around anymore, his jokes suck and I wish he would just leave us alone when no one wants him around!" Everyone else agreed with her. Leo couldn't stop his tears from falling anymore. He sprinted to his room, locked the door, and crashed on his bed and cried. He cried until he had no tears left to cry ( A/N get that reference ;) he was just left there shaking like a leaf. He couldn't believe what just happened. He was just so shocked! This confirmed his suspicions about his 'so-called friends'. They hated him and wanted him gone. 'Well then' , he thought, 'wish granted'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is my first time ever writing a fanfic. HAHAHA cliffhanger >:). i doubt anyone read this tho lmao.   
> also, DISCLAIMER THIS UNIVERSE PLUS THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO UNCLE RICK RIORDAN.


	2. Chapter Two

Leo made his way over to the drawers. He decided he wasn't going to kill himself yet, because that would be selfish and they still had to stop Gaea. He thought, cutting himself wouldn't hurt anyone, no one at all. He grabbed the all-too-familiar razor and said "Never thought I'd use you again. Ha who am I kidding?" He rolled up his sleeve to see all of his old scars, now fading white. He put the razor to his arm, and slit. He did one for every person who he blamed himself for hurting. Piper- one, Jason- one, Frank- one, Annabeth- one, Percy- one, Hazel- one, and lastly, his mom- five, for he hurt her more than words could describe. When he was done, he looked at his now new eleven lines, all dripping with crimson blood. It hurt, he admitted that, but it was a good kind of pain. He deserved it. He then bandaged himself for the sake of others not seeing and calling him dramatic. He dragged his tired feet to his bed and fell into a dream-filled sleep. 

In his dream, Leo saw his mom. They were inside of a glass ball and she was floating at the top. Leo screamed her name and tried to reach her, but alas, he slipped, again and again. They were in a glass ball after all, weren't they? After many tries, he gave up, breathing hard. Then, as if his mother was a balloon deprived of helium, she floated down. He wanted to hug her, hold her, but he was paralyzed. She pulled him up roughly and with a look of hatred on her face, that Leo had never seen, said "You did this to me, because of you I am dead. My sister was right, you are a diablo." And with that, they both popped out of existence and Leo woke up whimpering and shaking, saying "It's all my fault, Lo siento Madre, Lo siento mucho" And he stayed like that until Hazel came to his room to tell him that it was his turn to go on watch duty. 

She noticed his wet, sorrow-filled eyes that seemed to plead to her to come talk to him. She walked to where he was sitting, wrapped up in his blankets, and said "Leo are you okay?" "Yeah", he said. "I'm fine, just the regular old demigod nightmares." Though she could tell he was lying, she had more important things to do. "Okay", she said, and left. Leo sighed, this was gonna be a lOng day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugggh just saying to anyone who might ever read this, I hate making nice people so mean, but it gets better I promise.


	3. Chapter Three

Leo had to be on deck by 4 AM and now it was still 3:50. He had ten minutes but he went up anyway. No one was on deck that he saw, so he made his way over to the steering wheel thingie. He had a lot on his mind, and knowing no better, he started talking to his bronze dragonhead. He explained what he had heard the night before, and Festus made a mix of clicks and whirring noises that Leo couldn't completely decipher, but he could tell that the dragon was agitated and one of Leo's ways to calm him down was to sing to him. And not in his 'I'm gonna sing Baby by Justin Bieber in a really loudly voice' but his soft angelic voice that no one besides his mom ever heard. "Hey Festus, it's gonna be alright. I deserved it anyway" he said in a soothing voice. Then started to sing...

i want you...

i swear id stop breathing

if it would benefit you,

if thats all i had to do...

i'll give up everything

because im in love with you,

yes im in love with you...

i swear i'd stop breathing

if it would benefit you,

if thats all i had to do...

i'll give up everything 

because im in love with you,

yes im in love with...

(A/N please listen to the song, you kinda have to in order to understand how he sounds)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9gfRjq72WI

by this time, Leo was crying silent tears, for the song reminded him of Calypso and she wasn't here to be with him. Festus was all cooled down and lightly snoring. Little did Leo know, someone had been listened to him, someone had heard his words. And that someone felt so sorry for what they said, they didn't even mean it, but how was Leo going to forgive them? they thought. They too had tears streaming down their face. What they didn't know, though, was that because of their words and Leo's self-hate, Leo had purposefully harmed himself. 

And this person just happened to be no other than...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> props to anyone who made it here, i would have assumed you would have quit after the first chapter lol, so thanks


	4. Chapter Four

Frank.

Frank was standing there the whole, thinking that it was his turn to watch. (He's such a doof sometimes ya know?) Frank heard everything and he blamed himself. He blamed himself for starting that dumb conversation with the others just because he was insecure. Frank could tell that the others weren't very comfortable talking about Leo, but they still went along with it. Frank could also tell that they didn't really mean it, and that they were just saying things, but still even if they didn't mean it, there's still always a little bit of truth in the things that you say. Frank noticed that Leo had gone completely silent and wondered if he saw him. He looked around, but Leo was just staring off into the ocean, completely serene for once. Frank, then, even though he felt like he should say something to Leo which would probably result in Leo being mad that he eavesdropped, silently went to his cabin, the guilt and shame showing through his eyes.

(back to Leo) Leo felt like someone was watching him, but whenever he looked back, he couldn't see anyone. He shrugged it's not like anyone would care about what he had to say. Throughout the rest of his watch, he just hummed quietly since he couldn't talk to Festus and he would look like a raving lunatic if he talked to himself. When his shift was over, he went to go wake up Piper. He slowly walked to her door. He was dreading the moment when they had to exchange words. He knocked and she opened the door. She looked tired and was still in her pajamas. "give me a sec." she said. Then proceeded to close the door, change then open it again to a patient, still Leo. He had bags under his eyes, she noticed. "hey, it's time for you to head on up for your shift" he said in a hushed voice. He avoided looking her in the eyes, knowing that she would see right through him. "hey, you good?" she asked. "yeah" he said, but she noticed that he still refrained from looking her in the eyes. He turned to leave, but she grabbed his sleeve, which made it hike up to his elbow. He quickly turned and covered his forearm again, but not before Piper saw the violent red marks. She gasped and involuntarily raised a hand to her mouth and choked out a sob. Leo looked sad and was apologizing "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry pipes I never wanted to make you feel this wa-" "DONT YOU DARE APOLOGIZE LEO IM THE ONE WHO IS SORRY A-AND I-i am sorry for not caring" she said in a heartbroken voice. The tears were slipping down her face and she was all choked up. "i promise i will stick up for you forever from now on. i swear on the styx." Leo felt his eyes getting misty, no one had ever said anything like that to Leo. it was then that he realized that at least one person cared. and for now, that's all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being a crap writer. sorry if it's boring, but there's more drama coming up so stay tuned. (also why does that sound like im endorsing a reality show) also pls comment if you actually read this and tell me if it was okay. thanks : )


	5. Chapter Five

Piper had gone up to watch duty, and made Leo promise to talk to her if he felt urges again, and he complied, but now as he sat in his room, he remembered that the others probably still hated him along with his mother- HIS MOTHER, the dream came rushing back, and he didn't remember or even care about the promise piper made him make and he made his way to his blood stained razor. He lifted up his sleeve and winced at his not yet healed scars. they had started to lightly scab over and they hurt like a b*tch. he slowly grazed his arm with the razor and was about to press down when he heard a knock on his door and he flinched at the sound and hid his razor under his bed. "Leo may I come in?" Leo was shocked to hear Frank's voice out of anyone else. "Sure, as long as you don't mind being in the room alone with me" Leo joked and soon a flustered Frank made his way in. "h-hey Leo i ummm... wantedtosayimsorryfortalkingbadaboutyoubehindyourbackonlycauseiminsecurearoundyou" rushed Frank like there was no tomorrow, which was never really guaranteed for them, but still, chill out for a second Frank. "How did you know that I knew??" Leo asked. "well" began frank, "I went on deck this morning because I thought that it was my shift, but you were already there" Frank coughed, "talking to Festus, th-then I um heard you sing" frank gulped. Leo stared at him in shock. No one ever heard that vulnerability, that special voice he saved. "Please don't tell anyone" he said. Frank nodded. "i promise i wont and i want you to know that i truly am sorry for what i said" "don't be" said Leo, "if my life was tied to a piece of firewood that someone could easily burn, i would be a bit nervous around them too." "oh" said frank. "thanks for understanding and I wanted to say that no one else meant it. I'm positive that Piper just put a little charmspeak into her words which made everyone agree." Leo visibly looked happier. And Frank reached his hand to shake Leo's and as Leo grasped his hand, Frank could see the all-too-recent scars. His eyes started to drip. "what's wrong? is the McCshizzle man too hot?" Leo said as he wiggled his eyebrows. then he noticed where Franks eyes were directed. "oh" he said in a small voice. he went to cover his arm all too late. Frank grabbed him and wait, what? he hugged him? "I'm so sorry please don't do this because I really do care about you and I know for a fact that every single person on this ship does too" Leo was at a loss for words "wow thanks" and this time Leo really meant it. there was still that little voice in his head telling him that he wasn't enough, but he crushed that doubt once and for all. He was the first to pull away, although being in Frank's arms was comforting. "Thanks man, but didn't you say that you had to do something?" "oh-OH sorry i gotta go, Leo i promised Hazel that we would talk about something." Frank said as he made his way towards the door. "talk later?" "sure" said Leo. then the door closed and Leo was left in comfortable silence again, but this time he didn't feel so alone, for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thanks to anyone who actually read this :


	6. Chapter Six

A while after Frank left, Leo's adhd kicked in and he couldn't just sit still. So, he went to the engine room to go check on some stuff. After fixing a pipe and some other stuff, he leaned back, impressed at his own work. "wow you really outdid yourself" he said to himself. He had just started creating a way to communicate with Calypso and make sure she was alright.

He was really happy with himself and went to go grab some lunch. By the time he got to the mess hall, Jason, Percy, Annabeth and Hazel were already there. He walked in and suddenly everyone was apologizing, saying "Im sorry", "I didn't mean it", "please forgive us", "it was the charmspeak", and everyone got up and hugged him. He said "I mean I knew I was hot, but I can't have everyone" that earned him a few laughs. And a few sniffles. Everyone looked so sorry and he knew that they meant it. 

Now everything is perfect, he loves Calypso and (hopefully) she loves him back. His friends all love him and always had anyway and even though they could all die at any time, they were all happy. He felt complete.

But here's the question

How long would that happiness last?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter (like all the other ones) and just saying, soon a certain lil Italian boy will be in the story soon (oH i WoNdEr wHo iT cOuLd bE)


	7. Chapter Seven

After lunch, Leo feeling good. But he was also tired, sooo off to bed. As he made his way to his room, he heard a thump that seemed to come from his room. He sprinted to find one unconscious Nico Di Angelo.

Leo rushed to him and tried waking him up but he didn't budge. He then had to make sure that he was at least breathing. After Leo was sure that he was alive, he looked around for anything that might indicate how he got there. After snooping for approximately two minutes, which felt like hours to Leo, he found a wispy tendril of black smoke coming from underneath the sleeping boy. 'oh' Leo thought, he shadow traveled. He then picked the boy up and brought him to the small infirmary they had. He laid him down on one of the white cots and went to inform the rest of the crew who had come to visit. 

When he told everyone what had happened, they, especially Hazel, wanted to see him and how he was doing, but Annabeth, being the wise girl she is, said that they should probably wait and let him rest. So they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao sorry for not updating i hung out with my friends and also sorry for the short chapter, this is kind of a filler because the next chapter is in nicos POV.


	8. Chapter Eight

Nico woke up to the smell of antiseptic and the feeling of his aching head. He sat up and his recent events all came flooding back...

(one day earlier) 

Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge were all going to return the Athena Parthenos to the Greeks. They were doing pretty good so far, meaning they hadn't gotten killed, eaten, or shadow travelled to the Great Wall of China yet. Nico felt better than he had ever felt while shadow travelling due to Coach Hedge's extensive knowledge on the healing properties of wildlife. And he finally felt like he found his family, and we know Nicos not one for the sappy stuff, but he really, actually, genuinely enjoyed being with them. 

Even though he felt comfortable with them, Reyna more so than Coach Hedge, he still hadn't told them what went down with Eros and Jason. He kept thinking about that and decided that he would have to tell Percy sooner or later even if he didn't like him back. So he told Reyna that he had to deliver an important message to the seven and that he would be back in two days, three days tops. And with that, he shadow travelled away to the Argo II.

(back to present)

Nico rubbed the grogginess from his eyes and sat up. He suddenly felt a scratching at his throat and started to choke up something. He fell over and rushed to the closest bathroom. He was coughing everything up when he realized that this was not normal throw up. Oh no it wasn't. It was red rose petals and blood.

Nico was confused. He wasn't dumb enough to believe that this was just a coincidence or some shit. He had to figure out what the hell just happened. 

After flushing the toilet and cleaning up the evidence, he made his way over to the library. 'thank the gods Annabeth made Leo add a library' he thought. He opened the door to find a nice cozy area with pillows and a coffee table, somewhere you could just relax and just read a book. He found it quite nice in there then remembered the reason he came. 'think nico, where would I find something like this' "aha" he said aloud. Medical books. There had to be something about it in there right? Haha no. after scouring every known health, doctor, and illness book on the Argo II, even a dummy's guide to healing, he could not find one thing about throwing up rose petals and blood. 

He was about to give up when suddenly he felt drawn to a dusty book in the corner. He walked over. Mythical Diseases. Huh I wonder why I didn't look at this. He started flipping through and didn't find anything until he flipped to the page titled Hanahaki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i literallly started this as a sad leo ff but ig now im changing it to nico since leos stuff is resolved


	9. Chapter Nine

Hanahaki is a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from unrequited love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies. This disease is extremely rare and has only four known cases, in which all the victims died.

Nico kept re-reading that paragraph, over and over, and over again. He was speechless. No one would ever love him like that. He felt the hot tears sliding down his face. He felt them drip onto his arms and saw them drip onto the page. He thought his crush on Percy was over, he didn't have feelings for him anymore. He laughed bitterly. Of course he did, but he knew for a fact that Percy wouldn't change or love him any more than a friend. He gently tore the page out and put it his pocket. He would get out of this somehow. He had to. 

He slowly tiptoed back to the infirmary and got back in the cot. Just in time too, because at that moment, the crew had decided to pay him a visit. Finally. 

When they walked in, Nico pretended like he just woke up. He sucked in a breath. There was Percy. He just looked oh so fine wOw. He pinched himself. 'stop staring at him, that's creepy' he thought. He forced himself to look at anyone besides Percy. He saw Hazel. She had tears in her eyes, then she rushed forward and hugged him. "I missed you" she said. "um I- I can't breathe" nico said "sorry" she said and eased up a little. Everyone else gradually came forward and hugged him even thought he had made it clear that he doesn't like hugs. They were all in a good mood though and Nico couldn't help but feel it too. That is until he recalled that he had frickin Hanahaki and he didn't know if he was gonna live. His smile slowly turned into a grimace. He noticed and put a smile back on. Leo had seen though. He made eye contact with Nico and mouthed 'are you okay?' Nico was about to respond when he felt that almost foreign tingle in his throat. He got up and said quickly, "I'm just a little sick from shadow travelling gotta go" and with that he sprinted to the bathroom and locked the door. 

'How did that happen so quickly?' he thought. Then he recalled that being in the same room as the person triggers the gagging. He retched into the toilet this time, only to find that instead of petals, there were actually little rosebuds coming out too. He didn't have much time until there were complete roses and he died of asphyxiation. He was starting to panic. 'calm down' he thought to himself. 'there is probably a cure that isn't the person loving you back you're gonna be fine.' He cleaned up and went back to the infirmary where everyone looked a little worried, but their faces brightened as soon as he came back in. "Are you okay?" basically everyone asked. "yeah, I'm fine, like I said I'm still just a bit nauseous from shadow-travelling" "and if you guys don't mind, I'd like to go back to sleep now just to rest up a bit." They all said their goodbyes and left. But before they were all out the door, Leo looked back at Nico with a concerned look on his face. He seemed to debate something in his head, then shook his head, the decision made, and left without another look. 

Once the door was closed and everyone was out, Nico's fake smile slumped back into his familiar frown. He felt like crying. He wanted oh so badly for someone to love him back. He seemed to have an internal battle in his mind. He didn't know whether or not to tell Percy or if the person he loved really was Percy, no, No it had to be. He couldn't think of anyone else to fit the description. 'Well' he thought. 'there is one person who could...' he pinched himself. 'oh my gods, did I really just have that thought??' He couldn't possibly be his love no way. 'nah its definitely Percy but I don't even need him because im going to think of a brilliant solution to fix this then no one will ever know about my secret.' He thought, then passed out from the stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Honestly it means so much that people actually read this even though its my first and not that good. I hope you like this chapter :0


	10. Chapter Ten

N I C O ' S   
point of view

When Nico awoke, it was around 12 a.m. and mostly everyone was asleep. He decided that, since no one could question him, he would do more research in the library. He slowly got up off of his cot and tiptoed to his destination.

When he arrived, he didn't know what to look for, seeing as he was one of four people in the whole universe to ever get it. He seriously couldnt even believe that this was happening to him out of all people. To him this felt like some kind of sick joke, but boy do the fates have a messed up sense of humor. He snapped out of his thoughts and started looking for the disease book once again. 

He made his way up and down the aisles and couldn't help but admire the smell of books and the way it was all set up. Heres a little known fact about Nico- he is a literature geek. He knows all the classics by heart (not actually but he still read them a lot) and he just loved the way that books can take you to a whole different dimension without you ever even leaving your spot, he loved that he didn't have to be around people and feel left out and he loved reading about the struggles and everything that people went through and that he could relate to them. It was like he could communicate with books, people not so much.

He kept on daydreaming, not even realizing that he had found the desired book. He flipped it open to the part where he had previously ripped out the page and reached into his back pocket to pull out the missing piece. He fit it back in. What he didn't notice though, was that there was a suggested cure near the bottom of the page. He facepalmed but inside it was like fireworks had gone off. Even though it had only been a few days since he diagnosed himself, he was so happy that this was finally gonna be over. He checked the bottom of the page for the cure when, he felt that prickling sensation in his throat. 'Oh no' he thought before something started to come up, something so pointy and large he couldn't help but to retch.

This time there were whole flowers complete with the thorny stems and blood, gushing from the vomit and from the thorns shredding his throat. He couldn't breath. He started banging on the floor as if to have someone hear him. He started to go lightheaded and before the darkness fell, he had a moment of realization, from the tingles to the blushed looks, he knew it wasn't Percy. Then he couldn't help but watch as the shadows came upon him.

L E O ' S  
point of view

Ever since Nico came to the ship, Leo had an odd feeling about him. He had this weird feeling in his stomach and he couldn't explain it. And he knew that there was something that boy was hiding ever since he saw that slip up frown and he was determined to find out what it was.

He hadn't anytime to figure it out yet because he needed to either fix the ship, sleep, or be on watch duty. But now he had just gotten off of watch duty and without further adieu, went to find Nico. It was now around 12-ish, so naturally he thought Nico would be sleeping in the infirmary, so that's where he went.

He took his time thinking that he had all the time in the world, but boy was he in for a surprise. Nico wasn't there! Internally, Leo had a horrible, sickly felling in his gut but he shoved that thought away and went to check the bathroom. 

When he still didn't find Nico there, he started to panic a little bit. 'Hmmm if I were Nico where would I be?' he thought. To be totally honest with himself, he didn't know Nico all that well so he was stumped...

'THE SECURITY CAMERAS' he thought then rushed to the surveillance room. He scanned the tvs that showed the rooms and didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he saw the library.

He was confused... why was Nico just crouched down over a book? He didn't really see Nico as one who liked to read. 'Well its not like you know him that well or anything' he thought. As he looked back again he got... 'NO' he thought. He was hyperventilating 'you love calypso' the reason for his strangled breathing though, were these tiny little butterflies flitting around in his stomach. He squashed anything he was feeling and remembered the reason he was looking for Nico. He went to the door to leave and cast one last look back at the cameras. What he saw made his heart sink the the pits of his stomach. Nico was choking on something and writhing on the ground. Leo was frozen, his stomach churning. Slowly determination etched its way onto his face. He WAS going to save this boy. He just had to sort out his feelings for him later.

Leo had a one track mind right now and didn't even think to be quiet. He raced down the halls and headed for the library. His socks skidded through the doorway. He ran through the aisles not caring if he messed anything up. He slowly turned to a halt. Nico was laying on the ground...

Surrounded by roses and a whole lot of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this really isnt that great, but pls keep in mind that this is my first story, and the reason i havent updated is because i just recently finished the last book of one of my favorite series and it was hard to comprehend that everything was over soo i didnt really have any motivation to write but now im fine.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Leo was freaking out in every single way possible. He could feel a pulse, it was weak, but it was something at least.

He felt the tears pricking his eyes but didn't let them fall. He had to keep it together for Nico.

He stood up and looked a his watch, it was 1:38 a.m. 'No one is awake right now' and he didn't want to wake anyone up at this ungodly hour unless it was an emergency, which this essentially was. 

First though, he was going to try anything he could to wake him up, and if nothing worked, he would get Annabeth because well besides the obvious, she was taking an advanced medical course for high school and would most likely have some idea of what to do. 

"okay, okay I got this" he said to himself.

He stopped his fidgeting fingers and started to think. 

'oH leO wHy doNt yOu chEck thE bOok niCo waS hOldiNg' (an : note the sarcasm ) 

He berated himself for not thinking of that sooner, but noting the situation he was in, you could understand his actions.

He moved Nico's limp body aside and gently pulled the thick script from his arms. 

He dusted off the cover and looked at the title. It read : μυθικές ασθένειες in Ancient Greek which Leo could decipher perfectly as Mythical Diseases. 

'Hmm', he thought. This is not what he was expecting, at all. 

But, he supposed, it made sense, for there were bloody roses surrounding his almost skeletal frame. 

'Where to look, where to look' He mulled it over. Then decided to just skim through and see if there were any words that correlated to blood and/or roses. 

He started to flip through the pages softly because the pages were old and brittle, and if he screwed up the pages, he might never get his friend back. 

He suddenly stumbled upon a page that, unlike the others, had been previously ripped out, then hastily shoved back in. 

He skimmed the top of the page, it read 

Hanahaki.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Nicos POV

Warmth.

That's what Nico was feeling.

He didn't want to move for it was such a blissfully wonderful feeling. He just wanted to drift away.. go see Bianca and his mom, and be happy. 

'no, no no NO' he thought. His memories all drifted back to him and he abruptly sat up. It was dark and blurry. He rubbed his eyes "where am i?" 

He looked around. All he could see was darkness creeping out from under him and stretching into an endless abyss. He stood up. As he walked around, he noticed that everywhere he went was the same as before. It was as if he had gotten swallowed into a collapsed black hole.

It wasn't cold, in fact he still felt that rush of warmth that occurred when he thought of letting go. It felt as though, if he made just one wrong move, he would be completely swallowed by the darkness. If he was being honest, that didn't sound so bad. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be alive anymore. He felt no pain, and for the first time in his teenager life he felt at peace. 

He started murmuring to himself, mostly babbling on about holding on for Leo. 'LEO!' He was shocked. He had been so busy thinking about letting go that he forgot the about the reason he was in this mess anyways. 

He suddenly recalled the train of events leading up to this exact moment. 'Okay, I threw up flower petals and blood, then I found the disease that is incurable unless the person loves you back. Hanahaki. Okay, okay, what happened next... Oh! I went to the library for more research then I started coughing out full roses and puddles of blood, now I'm here.' 

Though of course, he didn't really know where here was. 

I guess that was his mission for now. 'Just need to find out where I am.'

He pondered it for a while. It couldn't be real life and it probably wasn't a simulation. Who would use Nico for a simulation for a world that was empty? That wasn't really logical, but really, what was logical about this situation?

'Agh, its probably my subconscious.' See, he maybe wasn't the smartest person to walk the Earth (No, that was Annabeth.) but he did know that this was the only option that made sense. 

'Okay, maybe I just need to think about something and it will show up.' He thought out loud. 

Half an hour later, he wasn't thinking that. He had tried absolutely everything. He cleared his mind, he thought of endless things to appear, he had tried meditating, he had tried to focus all of his energy, for gods sake, he even tried manifesting. Nothing was going his way. He fell to his knees. He needed to figure this out or he would go insane. 

He was going to pull at his hair when he realized that he didn't feel anything. He tried it again, and yet, nothing, no pain, not even a wisp of feeling. 

Okay, so he couldn't feel pain 'I guess that is one thing I'm getting out of this.' He also came to realization that when he thought of Leo, 'That horrible clown who doesn't love anything, not even himself.' Nico thought bitterly. In his heart, he knew it wasn't true, and he immediately felt bad for even thinking that. It wasn't Leos fault. Nico himself had been the one to fall for him. 'Ha, maybe I'm the clown now.' Anyway, when he thought if anything to do with Leo, he didn't feel nauseous or even the slightest bit of a tingle in his throat or stomach. 

Nico snapped out of his thought. He looked around frantically. He heard something. He wasn't sure about where it came from, but he knew it, it had been horribly quiet before and even a pin dropping would've startled him. 

He heard it again. It was coming from his left. He tentatively took a couple steps and heard it again. He kept following the gibberish until he felt something. It was a wall. The voice seemed to come from the wall. 'No', he thought, 'it was coming from beyond it.'


	13. Chapter Thirteen

N I C O ' S P O V

...The voices were coming from beyond the wall...

Nico reached his hands out in front of him expecting something, anything to be in front of him. Something solid to make up for what he saw. But there was nothing, he reached a bit too far and toppled over into the abyss. 

It wasn't anything fast. It was an Alice in Wonderland scenario. He just felt light and.. oddly giddy. This new feeling filled him form his head to his toes and before he knew it, a huge smile adorned his face. He couldn't help but think that things were going to get better. The speed of his fall accelerated and with a thump, he landed on a cold surface.

All of the giddiness was gone and he felt an did sense of dread. With his stomach turning, he took a few tentative steps in each direction. 

Left, right, and backwards. The only option was to go forward. 

He trudged along the onyx surface trusting that he wasn't going to plummet into oblivion any time soon. 

Nico wasn't really one to be found in loud places, but now, the feeling of loneliness threatened to choke him and he wished for, more than anything, sound.

He hung on the that word, savoring it no thinking about waking up and hearing human voices again. 'Ew' he thought to himself. He was actually looking forward to social interaction. Probably for the first time in his life since getting introduced to CHB.

About ten minutes in, he noticed a tiny sliver of light. And slowly but surely, the closer he got to it, the bigger it got. 

Finally, after a few more minutes of awkwardly running, he came face to face with what looked like a tunnel. (sEcReT tUnNeL) He really didn't want to, but it seemed that if he wanted to get anywhere, he had to go through it. 

With a sigh, he got on his hands and knees and made his way forward. Soon enough, he emerged from the tunnel and the worst yet best thing he could ever see made him stop in his tracks. 

He was in a field just bursting with flowers of all sorts. It smelled of drying laundry and fresh lavender. Oh, but that's not what stopped him, oh no, that was the sight of two certain people. Laughing and dancing under fairy lights. Just giving off an aura of pure joy. 

That, was two figures, those of Maria and Bianca DiAngelo.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* L E O ' S P O V *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

'Hmm' he let his mind wander. Hanahaki. He was sure he had heard that word before. He tried to recall any information that might be of use and he couldn't think of anything. "Oh right, the book." He said aloud.

He dropped his gaze downwards and started reading the page. 'Hanahaki is a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from unrequited love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies. This disease is extremely rare and has only four known cases, in which all the victims died.'

He let the words sink in. Nico could die if he doesn't figure out who it is. Leo felt his heart break a little for the poor boy. Before he knew it, there was a liquid running down his face and onto the page.

He looked down again and skimmed through the rest of the page. There were diagrams of what the petals and blood looked like and Leo looked up to Nicos fragile form and saw that the mess he had made look almost exactly like the one on the diagram. He looked at the rest of the pictures then he saw a new section labeled: "Theories."

'Well this might help.' He thought sarcastically. He read and read.. and you guessed it, read some more. 

He threw the book in frustration. The only thing that horrible page lead to was that his 'true love' had to love him back therefore uno reversing the one-sided love. And it had to be true romantic feelings, just the feelings of a friend weren't enough. There was also a section on surgery that could remove the flowers from the lungs, but it was very complex and along with the blood and thorns, the feelings were removed. It wasn't as if they purposely removed them, they were just embedded in the flowers themselves. 

'Okay that won't work ' He muttered. He knew that Annabeth was taking a medical course, but he doubted that even she could do a surgery that complicated so quickly. 

Oh and on top of that, the book also had written that it was unlikely that the victim would survive longer than a week, tops. As far as Leo knew, Nico had been showing symptoms for about four days, but he wasn't really paying that much attention before and as far as he knew, this could be Nicos last day.

His insides twinged with guilt. If he had only made Nico tell him what was going on or if he had been just a little bit quicker to the library.. 'This is all your fault, and if he dies, it was basically me who killed him' 'This situation is just going to turn out like the one with your mother' 'I'd love to see you try... and fail. '

These thoughts overtook his senses and he started to curl up in a ball, whimpering "I'm so sorry mom, I tried to save you, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He felt his eyes leaking once more. 

He shut his eyes and covered his ears and tried to block out the noise. God knows how long he stayed in that position. After a while though, his mind started to drift and sleep knew when he was called, but NO, Leo would hold on for as long as it took. He would not be responsible for Nicos death too. 

That's when he started to devise his plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd just like to say a thank you to anyone who actually kept reading this despite however bad it got


End file.
